Singapore-based company flies emergency cases for treatment on mainland
International SOS carried out on 15 September the first direct cross-Straits medical emergency flight between China and Taiwan for nearly six decades. The operation was followed four days later by the first chartered evacuation between the two countries.
These landmark services come around three months after the signing of an agreement between China and Taiwan, allowing direct air access by chartered flights across the Taiwan Straits for emergency medical rescue.
John Williams, managing director of Singapore-based International SOS, says: “This is the first time since 1949 that any flight of this nature has been possible,” as Taiwan is considered a renegade province by China, which has banned all non-stop flights to the country since this date.
Williams says before the agreement was signed, ill Taiwanese residents or visitors in China had to transfer through Shenzhen, Macau or Hong Kong to return home for emergency medical treatment, adding critical time to the journey. Between July 2005 and June 2006 alone, 638 patients were evacuated from China to Taiwan.
The latest cases involved a critically ill Taiwanese man who was evacuated from China by Hainan Airlines’ business jet unit Deer Jet, which has teamed with International SOS to offer a Raytheon Hawker 800XP for transfer services between the two countries. The second operation involved 14 injured Taiwanese tourists who were evacuated in a chartered Airbus A320 following a bus crash.
One of the historic emergency flights was undertaked by Deer Jet taking an ill Taiwanese man direct from China |
Source: Flight International
